CaseSt

udy

Pr
ofessi
onal
Issuesi
nInf
ormat
ionTechnol
ogy
A.

Par sleyisacompanyt hatproducesaccounti

ngsof tware,whichi
swi delyusedinthe
mar ket.Al
thought hesof twareisver
ysuccessful, i
thasamaj orweaknessbecausei t
doesn’ tdetectf i
l
eov erfl
ow; i
ffil
eoverf
lowoccur s, t
ransacti
onsarelostwi t
houtwarning.
Cust omersar etoldthattheymustcheckt hesizeofcer t
ainfil
esweekly.
Pet erwas, untilr
ecent l
y,theheadofquali
tycontr olatParsley.Herepeatedlydrew
attent i
ontot hisproblem, butthemanagementr ef usedtoallocat
ethef air
lysubst
anti
al
resour cesnecessar ytor ecti
fyit
.

Peterhasnowmov edtoJupiter
,oneofPar sley
’scompet it
ors.Si
ncethen,Parsl
ey’s
salesst affhav
enot icedthat
,insal
essituationswher etheyarecompetingdir
ectlywit
h
Jupiter,potent
ialcustomershavebeenaski ngt hem howt hei
rsoftwar
ehandlesf i
le
overflowconditions.Thesalesstaffhavetoadmi tt
ot heprobl
em.Asar esult
,theyhave
l
ostal argenumberofsal estoJupiter
.Parsleynowwi shestotakeact
ionagainstPeter
forbreachofconf i
denti
ali
ty.

1.CanPar
sleyt
akeact
iononPet
er?I
fso,
underwhi
chl
awcant
hisi
ssueber
aised?

Absolut
elyy es,Par
sleycan takeact i
on on Pet
erduet o heknowsa conf ident
ial
i
nformati
ont hatisf
orbiddentoclutt
eryethestil
lspreaditanduseditagai
nstthem.
Andthatissuecanber ai
sedunderthelawofR.A.10173theDataPri
vacyActof2012.

2.Whatshoul
dPar
sleypr
ovei
nor
dert
osucceedi
nthei
ract
ionagai
nstPet
er?

Parsl
eymustcol
l
ectst
rongev
idences,i
nthatwayt
hei
ract
ionsagai
nstPet
erwi
l
l
succeed.

3.Di
scussanypossi
blear
gument
sint
heci
tedpi
ecesofev
idence.

Aswhathav ement i
onedi nthestory,Par
sleyi
sav er
ysuccessf ulcompanybecauseof
i
tswi del
yusedsof t
wareev ent houghithasamaj orweakness,t hecompanyst il
l
managesi t
,inal i
ghtwei ghtsolut
ion.Ti
llPet
ermov edt oanot hercompany( Jupit
er)
whichisthecompetitorofhisprevi
ouscompanywor kedon.Si ncet hen,Par
sley
’ssal
es
si
tuati
onsaregetti
ngl ow&st af
fevenwonderwhycost umersaskedcer tai
nquesti
ons
ont hem how thei
rsof twarehandl esfi
leoverfl
ow whicht hest affmustansweri t
honestl
y.Asaresultthey’velostnumbersofsalestoJupiter
.So,t hisdidn’
thappenby
chance,
it’
sonpur
pose.Pet
erdi
dthi
sint
ent
ional
l
y.

B.

Tal
ybontGamesLtd.i
sasmal lgamedev
elopmentcompany,
employingabout20staf
f.
I
thasdevelopedaver
ysuccessful
gamethati
smar ket
edbythegamespublisher
MegaPasti
mesunderthet
rademarkBogl
ehunter
.(Bogl
eisaScott
ishwordforaghost.
)

Af ewmont hsago, Ali

ceandBr i
an,
twooft heseni orgamesdesi gner,
atTalybont
GamesLt d., l
eftthecompanyt ojoi
nBor t
hSi mulatorsLt
d.,acompanyspeci ali
zingi n
thedevelopmentofsi mulati
ongames.Bor threcentl
yproducedagamev er
ysimi lart
o
Boglehunter,whi chismarketedbyanotherlargegamepubl isherGoldengames.I tis
soldundert hename“ Boglecat
cher
”atapr icethatis30percentlessthanBogl ehunter.
It
spackagi ngr esemblesthatofBoglehuntertotheextentthatthecolorschemesand
typest
ylesar esimi l
ar.

BothTal
ybontGamesLt
d.andMegaPast
imeswi
sht
otakel
egal
act
ionagai
nstwhat
theyr
egar
daspiracy
.

1.Fr
om t
hescenar
io,
ident
if
ywhatact
ion/
scoul
dbet
akenundert
hel
aw.

Basedont hegi
venscenari
o,t
hattackl
esaboutpir
acythatcanbetakenundert
hel
aw
ofR.A.8293theInt
ell
ectualProper
tyCodeoft hePhili
ppines,R.
A.10173theDat
a
Pri
vacyActof2012andR.A.10175theCyber
cri
mePr ev
entionActof2012.

2.I
dent
if
yanddi
scusst
hel
egal
act
ionst
hatcoul
dbet
akenagai
nst
:

-Al
i
ce&Br
ian

Thelegalacti
onsthatcoul
dbet akenagainstAl i
ceandBrianistheR.A.10173t heDat a
Priv
acyActof2012andR. A.8293t heInt
el l
ectualPr
opert
yCodeoft hePhili
ppinesdue
tothefactthatt
heybot hhavewor kedpreviouslyonTaly
bontCompanyandt hennow,
theyarecur r
entl
ywor ki
ng int heBor thCompanyt hecompet i
toroft hei
rpr evi
ous
company.Thegamet hattheynei t
herdev el
opednordesi gnedoni ssomewhatsi milar
tothegameTal ybontCompanyhas.Obv i
ousl ytheycl
utt
erconfi
dent i
ali
nformationand
alsocopi
edit.

-Bor
th
Thelegalacti
onthatcanbet akenagainstBort
hist heR. A.8293theIntel
lect
ual Property
Codeoft hePhili
ppines.Si
nceweal r
eadyknow t hatt heyar ethegreatcompet it
orof
Taly
bontCompanyand al so theyknew al r
eady ,theymusthav er ead i tint heir
appli
cat
ionresumet hatAli
ce&Br ianareprevi
ouswor ker sofTalybontCompany .Which
makest hem,theBorthCompanybei ngawar ealr
eadyt hatAl i
ce&Br i
an’soutputi squite
si
mi l
artotheTaly
bontCompanyy etsti
llt
heydidn’
tev enhesi tat
etorecti
fyAlice&Br i
an.

-Gol
denGames

Si
ncet hey
’ret
hepublisher&they’
vepubl
ishagame,acarboncopygame,agamet hat
i
ssimilarfr
om Taly
bontCompany ’
sBoglehunt
ergame.Ther
efor
etheLegalact
ionswil
l
betakenunderthelawofR.A.10175theCyber
cri
mePrevent
ionActof2012.